Heroes Rise, fourth entry: Of Cursed Hats and Maxed Stats

Welcome, brave adventurers…

… to the fourth entry into the Heroes Rise chronicle. This episode was recorded on Saturday, 16th December 2017, and made available for download on Wednesday, 20th December 2017 at heroesrisepodcast.com

Lennon, Ostron and Ryu are back, though Lennon’s been refusing to catch Ryu’s cold and has hit the cough syrup pretty hard. In this week’s show, Lennon tells us a great place to look up adventures. Then we take a look at some D&D news as we bring you news of:

Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition

Kobold Press’s latest works

Some new videos from Todd Kenreck

And details of Robert Adducci’s next project

Next, Ostron and Lennon Roll for Persuasion and tackle the subject of min-maxing. After that we take a Short Rest and poke our heads into the Gnomish Workshop where we learn of different bonuses DMs can give to their players; before finally finishing off the show by looking into the Scrying Pool to see what you have to say.

A Short Rest: Twelve Days of Bonuses, Part 1

This Week’s Community Questions

What’s your take on Min-maxing? Are you the type of player that takes pride in the most highly specialised builds, or are you happiest with making a character that feels more real? If you’re a DM, do you welcome the challenge of dealing with min-maxers? Have you ever min-maxed an NPC? No matter your views, we want to hear them!

Heroes Rise are always on the lookout for new team members that have a passion for Dungeons and Dragons. Please know that all of our positions are volunteer, but we do offer a well known outlet for your work. If you have a particular skill that you believe could enhance our content, then send your contact information and experience to sendingstone@heroesrisepodcast.com

You can also follow us on the social media sites! We’re on Facebook! Head over to facebook.com/heroesrisednd and say “hi”, or check us out on Twitter via @heroesrisednd for details of our show times and other fun stuff.

A special thanks to Vindsvept for making the awesome music you hear throughout the show, be sure to check him out at vindsvept.bandcamp.com; and a special thanks to the designer of our banners and avatars, Lo of Lo’s Lair — you can find him on Twitter @RealLarryD and on Facebook at facebook.com/LosLair

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2 Comments

Adontis

December 21, 2017 at 4:08 pm

Great show everyone!

This one might get a little long, so I apologize.

Min-maxing I think has negative connotations because of the people who are typically attracted to it do so without thinking of the group as a whole, not because it itself is inherently bad. Saying that you can’t have interesting RP as a min-maxed character is completely false, it all depends on who is piloting the character and what their goals are.

A group that decides to min-max can be just as RP heavy and fun as a group that decides to never min-max. The largest consideration anyone should take into account in any DnD game is will it belong in the group. If everyone is expecting sub-optimal characters, and unexpectedly in rolls Barbarian McSlayface who is an unstoppable juggernaut on the battlefield, that probably won’t go well.

As a player I don’t like it when one player in the group min-maxes if that wasn’t discussed before hand because it may overshadow everyone else during combat. As a DM I don’t like when one player min-maxes without warning because my encounter balance is thrown off.

However in my next campaign the players will be told to make the most min-maxy characters they can, and it will still be a heavy RP game like all our games. Its just a matter of expectations of the group.

Barry Peterson

December 23, 2017 at 5:18 pm

I agree that a min/max character, when done right, doesn’t pull from the role playing aspect of the game. However, as a player, I find it endlessly frustrating during combat when a player needs diagrams and five cross reference sheets from three different manuals to explain their attacks and why it’s legal to use them. I do not envy any DM in such situations.
I also think that there is a level of min/maxing when it comes to actual role play. D&D provides us with huge array of spells and abilities to cover just about any situation that may arise. I, for one, choose spells and abilities that I feel my character would embrace. I don’t choose them in a situational style. I may know how to make quiche but I don’t eat eggs, I’ll never make quiche. My cleric may know Ceremony but he could care less about a wedding. He will never give up a spell slot to wed the cute gnomes Gizmo and Gadget.
Role playing is fun when you have to make do with what you have to overcome a challenge. It bores me to just whip out a D&D Swiss army knife that gives you the exact tool that you need, when you need it. So, to Gizmo and Gadget, you don’t need a piece of paper to show the world you’re in love.